AI in the Sky

As our cities and public transport systems are busier than ever, discover how smart tech
surveillance
is keeping us safe as we travel

Nowhere sums up our hectic lives more than the
hustle
and bustle of the train station. And with some of Europe’s stations having
over 99 million journey entries
and exit a year, the potential for problems is vast.

We’ve all witnessed the scene. Thousands of people rushing
through
a station eager to get on the next available train. Everyone is carrying luggage, not
sure
where they are going and distracted by the departures board. This scene can quickly
lead
to bottlenecks at ticket barriers, lost baggage and petty crime. Incidents like this
play
out across a range of public spaces – airports, city centres or entertainment venues.
With
these issues, and others, often happening concurrently, surveillance cameras can help
to
keep busy public spaces safe for everyone to enjoy.

However, the conventional eye in the sky does have
drawbacks.
Camera technology is only as good as the human operator. Although highly trained, in
hectic
environments officers can struggle to keep up with everything going on. In fact, the
average
operator can only concentrate on 4-6 screens at once. Very impressive, but not enough
to
cover an entire public space. In a security situation, the time taken for an operator
to
find the relevant footage can lead to delays or evacuations.

Cameras also raise the issue of privacy. An operator is
given
very close access to imagery of the public, raising concerns about privacy and data
protection.

So how do we keep the public safe, and respect and protect their
privacy?

One answer lies in sophisticated camera analytics
technology.
The software, imbedded into existing camera hardware, has been developed to tackle both
the
people power and the privacy matters.

So how does this tech work?

The technology, known as “smart video intelligence”,
integrates
artificial intelligence (AI) into existing surveillance systems and video feeds, and
instantly
analyses people’s features. For people, this means gender, age and clothing, but the
system
can also identify objects such as a baggage.

Many eyes make lighter work

The automated analysis is significantly quicker than a human
operator.
For example, Hitachi’s
Smart Spaces and Video Intelligence system is being used to quickly identify a piece of
lost baggage. The system reviews
all video footage, identifies the bag within it and tracks the owner. The ability to
trawl
through hours of footage in seconds, to find the correct owner and identify their
movements
means less time wasted for station staff, no delays and a reduction in security risk.
It
also improves the service for passengers.

Anonymity assured

Using AI in surveillance systems not only helps surveillance
officers
to have several pairs of eyes on a situation, it also helps protect the public. The
system
is programmed to pick up features about a person’s appearance but not analyse their
face.
In fact, it can automatically blur faces so that operators don’t see them either. Not
only
is this more effective – many criminals automatically cover their faces – but preserves
privacy
for law abiding citizens.

Making camera’s smarter is in everyone’s interest. Having an
AI
in the sky means better outcomes for both public safety and privacy.